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What Members Thought
Amazing collection of short stories telling stories about women who were fame-adjacent - Oscar Wilde's niece, Edna St. Vincent Millay's sister, James Joyce's daughter, Byron's daughter - or briefly famous - Beryl Markham, the women of the Interational Sweethearts. Absolutely stellar writing.
A very short collection, so I hesitate to take something out, but for as good as "The Lottery, redeux" is it just does not fit with the other stories, in my opinion. It's wonderfully crafted but it doesn't fi ...more
A very short collection, so I hesitate to take something out, but for as good as "The Lottery, redeux" is it just does not fit with the other stories, in my opinion. It's wonderfully crafted but it doesn't fi ...more
I enjoy the concept of this collection of stories. Taking one fact about a woman and elaborating on an imagined life for her. Some of the stories felt a little too short or ended abruptly, and at time, this irritated me. However, at the same time, I do appreciate the brief glimpse the writer creates for these women. I was reminded of the game I sometimes play in airports or any other crowded area: who is this person? Where are they going? Where are they coming from? I create little lives for the
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A collection of short stories featuring "almost famous women" of history. Often the famous women of the story is seen through the eyes of a close confident (only the first story, featuring conjoined twins is narrated in the first person by one of the twins)at a specific moment (often a low point) in her life. Women included in the collection are cross-dressing Standard Oil heiress Joe Carstairs, Beryl Markham, Romaine Brooks, Allegra Byron, Dolly Wilde (Oscar's niece), Norma Millay (Edna St. Vin
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I wavered between two and three stars and must be feeling generous about the concept of this collection of short stories. Think of the ellipses (...) unstated in history or the obscure newspaper column article and you'll find the premises of this work. The old photographs of the "almost famous" women Bergman identifies are nearly more intriguing than the fictionalized tales that she spins for each. This book is a bit indulgent in some ways; turning to the real biographies of these women, though
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3.5 stars
For a full review check out: http://youtu.be/yHWgyL-rZXk ...more
For a full review check out: http://youtu.be/yHWgyL-rZXk ...more
Each story was different, but I found an underlying thread that bound them all together. For me that thread was do what you need to do and carry on with life. The author has a good writing style. I would read another book or collection of stories by this author.
